As I’ve related before, our boys, Thing 1 and Thing 2 are twins. The great part about twins is that they always have a playmate. The tough part of raising twins is dealing with discipline.
Because our boys are nearly always together, when something “happens” we tend to hear “not me” from both of them. That leaves Mrs. Shoe and I to do our best impression of Sherlock Holmes to figure out what happened and who, if anyone, gets disciplined. Because they spend much of their time together, we tend to find that it is rarely ever just one that was involved in the “happening.” Typically we find that both of them were involved, with perhaps one acting as the ringleader but, the other also involved. In those situations we always council the one that tagged along, “Listen, you may not have had the idea but you were just as involved and had a chance to change your behavior but didn’t. For that, you get disciplined as well.”
Pelosi: Dems bear no responsibility for economic crisis
That was the headline posted on TheHill.com.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when asked Tuesday whether Democrats bear some of the responsibility regarding the current crisis on Wall Street, had a one-word answer: "No."
Really? None? Nada? Zilch? Zero?
Hmmmmmmmm.
According to the Committee on Rules of the US House of Representatives, the US Congress is responsible for oversight. The House’s own document defines in detail, what “oversight” is:
Congressional oversight is one of the most important responsibilities of the United States Congress. Congressional oversight refers to the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs and policy implementation, and it provides the legislative branch with an opportunity to inspect, examine, review and check the executive branch and its agencies. The authority of Congress to do oversight is derived from its implied powers in the U.S. Constitution, various laws, and House rules.
Futher on, it provides a list of reasons why “oversight” is required:
Why Does Congress Need to Do Oversight?
Ensure executive compliance with legislative intent.
Improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of governmental operations.
Evaluate program performance.
Prevent executive encroachment on legislative prerogatives and powers.
Investigate alleged instances of poor administration, arbitrary and capricious behavior, abuse, waste, dishonesty, and fraud.
Assess an agency or official’s ability to manage and carry out program objectives.
Review and determine federal financial priorities.
Ensure that executive policies reflect the public interest.
Protect individual rights and liberties.
Review agency rule-making processes.
Acquire information useful in future policymaking.
OK, just to recap: Congress (read that SanFranNan’s House) is responsible for oversight. According to it’s own document it is “one of the most important responsibilities of the United States Congress.” And, while SanFranNan claims that Buuuuuuuuush hasn’t protected the America public, it’s ironic that one of the reasons for oversight is to “Investigate alleged instances of poor administration, arbitrary and capricious behavior, abuse, waste, dishonesty, and fraud.”
The brilliance of the Founding Fathers is that they gave us a constitution which had 3 separate but co-equal branchs of government. The co-equal part only works if you have people in charge of them that are smart enough to read and understand the constitution and not just make up what they want about it.
Yes, something has “happened” in the financial system and markets. Contrary to SanFranNan’s protests, the co-equal part of the Constitution means that it wasn’t just the Executive branch that was there, the Legislative Branch (read that SanFranNan’s House) was there (or not there as is probably more the case) too. SanFranNan may want to be careful about calling too much attention to the fact that something “happened.” Just as when something “happens” with Thing 1 and Thing 2, SanFranNan may find herself included in the discipline doled out by the American people.
